Things I learned my first 30 days as a Director of Product Management

I made it.

That’s what I thought to myself when I was promoted to Director of Product Management.

Then I felt it. The imposter syndrome hit me so fast that I wasn’t even sure that it was imposter syndrome.

I met two really amazing people at the new company that I was working at that demonstrated to me what leadership was all about. They were my Director and VP. When I joined the company, I was an expert in my field. The company needed it, and more importantly, our customers needed it. I provided it. That was satisfying. Here, I saw that real leadership was first hand. Real partnership, collaboration, mentorship, sponsorship, people advocating for each other… among many, many other things. I went on about my day, being good at what I did, and one day, my VP came to me and said that they’d like to try me out for a leadership role.

Interesting.

Do I try? Sure… why not, it’s something new. A change of pace. So I signed up. It was rocky at the beginning. I soon learned the first thing about leadership from my VP.

Empathy, gratitude, humility, and transparency.

Those four words continue to have a place on my wall. Directly next to my desk. I wasn’t a director yet. I hadn’t thought about that. I was becoming a Manager, and it eventually lead to a promotion to a Sr. Manager role. This new role didn’t feel any different to be honest. I just went about my day, focused on my team and products. It was by design that my transition into a leadership role was seamless.

Fast forward a few months… it happened. I was promoted to Director.

I felt a great sense of gratitude, accomplishment, and imposter syndrome. This felt different from before. All of a sudden, new meetings were in my calendar… meetings for Directors and above. It felt like I had gotten a pass to a secret floor of a building where leadership would hang out. As much as I was excited for the new role and opportunity, there were things I wish someone would have told me ahead of time.

1. Practice compartmentalizing. This isn’t because emotions aren’t important. They are. It’s the pace that you have to maintain and carry throughout the day that makes it difficult and exhausting. There were some meetings that were really heavy, difficult conversations. Then the next meeting was something else altogether. To me, this isn’t about putting something in a box and shelving it… it’s about being able to shift focus quickly so that you can be engaging, and ready for the next meeting giving everyone your fullest energy and attention. Always make sure you go back to that box you shelved, because it’s important to unpack, process, learn, and move on before you shelve it for good.
2. Remember imposter syndrome? That heavy feeling of I don’t deserve this. That’s that I felt. My leaders felt differently though. They saw potential, they saw opportunity, they saw someone who could be successful in the role. It is extremely important to know this because they are the ones who believe in me even if I didn’t believe in myself. People don’t become Directors overnight, or by accident. They are chosen, they are groomed, they are invested in. The next time you feel like you’re not deserving… Your leaders know you deserve it and I hope that gives you peace.
3. Don’t change who you are because you got a new title. This one hits hard. It’s easy to get prideful of an accomplishment, especially one that elevates your role and status at a company. My Director told me that people liked me. They liked working with me. They liked who I was, and respected me as a leader even if they didn’t report to me. It’s so easy to let an ego get in the way. I’m the Director now yet, the reality is, the title doesn’t make me any better than anyone else. The title does mean that I have additional responsibilities, and not only do I have a duty to the customers of my products. I now have a direct duty to the people who report to me. They are also my customers.
4. Take your HR responsibilities seriously. It’s easy to get lost in doing product management, or strategy. Your most important customers aren’t the ones buying your products. They’re the ones who report to you. There’s an important nuance here that I want to address. Who you are are as a PM, is reflected in who you are as a Director. For me, that means the way that I approach product management, the way that I think about it, the way that I frame my work is scaled out to my team, who I have a responsibility to coach and mentor. Now back to this particular lesson. As a Director, I have to serve my customers; my team. Performance, merit, feedback, and etc. are all critical not because it’s my responsibility, but because it impacts someone’s livelihood — their well being. This is incredibly important, and it should be taken very seriously. Maybe you can’t arguably ruin someone’s life, but you have significant impact. Never take that for granted.
5. Leadership can be a lonely place. All of a sudden, my peers, friends, and others didn’t see me in the same way. They saw me as part of “management”. This gets lonely really fast, but it doesn’t have to be. There are people, other leaders, all over the place that can relate to your struggles and challenges. Everyone still needs a mentor and a coach. There’s always room to grow. I felt lonely at the beginning… but I still had my Director (who was promoted to Sr. Director), and my VP who were still there to mentor and coach me. Did our relationship change? Sorta… I got more work :)… but much of it is still the same.

So there you have it… 5 incoherent things that I learned in my first 30 days of being a Director. I hope it helps!